Price-ticket holder



y 1967 R. E. FORSBURG 3,320,690

PRICE-TICKET HOLDER Filed June 14, 1965 Ml VE/V T 0/? ROBER 7' E. FORSBURG Attorney United States Patent 3,320,690 PRICE-TICKET HOLDER Robert E. Forsburg, Monroeville Borough, Pa., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 14, 1965, Ser. No. 463,708 Claims. (Cl. 40-10) This invention relates to a ticket holder of the kind that is used in a store to display price tickets on the edges of the shelves.

In the past, conventional price-ticket holders have consisted of metal strips or moldings fixed to the shelf edges and having lips on their upper and lower edges. The lips are curled toward each other to form slots or pockets into which the upper and lower edges of the price tickets are placed. The back of the molding is usually shaped to hold the outer face of the ticket in a concave position.

One disadvantage of this conventional ticket support is that the width of the molding and the height of the ticket must be held to extremely close tolerances in order for the ticket to fit properly between the top and bottom pockets of the molding. If the ticket is too loose, it may be moved by air currents or by people brushing against it, and if it is too tight, it may be bent or deformed in an unsightly manner and be difficult to remove. In order for the ticket to fit correctly into the conventional holder, the height of the ticket and the distance between the pockets of the molding must each be within a dimensional tolerance of .002 inch.

Other problems encountered with the conventional ticket holders are the accumulation of unsightly dirt in the bottom pocket of the molding, which also adds to the dimensional tolerance problem mentioned above and makes the tickets more difiicult to remove; the wearing out and damage to the tickets by their repeated insertion in and removal from the molding; the need for different sizes of moldings to accommodate tickets of slightly different sizes; and the inability of the conventional moldings to support firmly tickets having narrow top or bottom edges.

One solution to the problem of tickets fitting too loosely in the molding has been to insert over the tickets a piece of clear plastic that is cut to proper size for fitting into the pockets of the molding. Thus, tickets that are too small for the molding would not be moved by air currents or people brushing against them. However, inserting and removing both the clear plastic and the tickets is a more difiicult operation for the store clerk than handling the tickets alone. Also, the clear plastic sheet does not solve other mentioned problems mentioned above, such as dirt gathering in the bottom pocket of the molding.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide a ticket holder that will overcome the foregoing disadvantages of prior ticket holders, and in particular will obviate the need for observing close dimensional tolerances in the manufacture of both the ticket and the supporting molding.

This and other objects will appear more readily from the following detailed description of my invention, and the attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a ticket holder;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the ticket holder of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the ticket holder of FIG- URE 1, showing a step in the removal or placement of a ticket in the holder.

In FIGURE 1, the ticket holder 2 includes a molding 3, connected to a store shelf 4 by screws 5, and a transparent insert 6 holding a display ticket T. The molding 3 may be made of any metal, but is preferably made of cold formed vinyl coated steel of approximately 20 to 24 ice gauge. The insert 6 may be made of any transparent thermoplastic material, but cellulose acetate butyrate plastie is recommended because of its low cost and resistance to damage by scratching or impact.

The molding 3 is formed with an upper lip 7, a lower lip 9, and back portion 11. The upper lip 7 extends outwardly from the back portion 11 and then downwardly to form an upper pocket 13, while the lower lip 9 extends outwardly and then upwardly from the back portion 11 to form the lower pocket 15.

The insert 6 has a body portion 17, a base portion 19, and an upper lip engaging portion 21. The base portion 19 fits snugly into the lower pocket 15 of molding 3. On the inward side of the portion 19 is a clip 23 that is designed to hold the ticket T against the rear side of the body portion 17 of the insert. The base portion 19 has a contour which is the same shape as the pocket 15, so as to minimize the tendency of dirt catching in the pocket 15. In addition, a ridge 25 projects outwardly from the side of the base portion 19 and fits snugly over the top of the lip 9 to guard further against dirt falling into the lower pocket.

The upper portion 21 of the insert has a concave surface 30 that engages the lower convex surface of the upper lip 7. A projection 32 extends inwardly from the portion 21 and toward the back 11 of the molding 3. By its contact with the back 11, the projection 32 prevents the upper portion 21 of the insert from slipping inwardly past the lip 7. A hook portion 34 is connected to the outward edge of the upper portion 21 to form a recess 35 into which a pencil point or other pointed tool may be inserted, as shown in FIGURE 3.

In operation, the base 19 of insert 6 is pushed into the lower pocket 15 of the molding 3 and the body portion 17 is bent outwardly as shown in FIGURE 3. A price ticket T is then placed between the clip 23 and the back of the portion 17 of the insert. Additional tickets are similarly placed in desired locations along the length of the molding 3, each ticket being placed with its letter or number facing outward and against the rear side of the body portion 17. The tickets are thus shielded by the body portion 17 so as to protect them from damage by dirt or other foreign objects. At the same time, they are displayed to the shopper in front of the shelves, as shown in FIGURE 2.

To lock the insert 6 in place, its upper lip engaging portion 21 is pushed inwardly until the concave surface 30 en gages the upper lip 7. The insert 6 is thus held in the molding 3 with the center of its body portion 17 bowed outward so as to make its outer surface convex, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. The base portion 19 is held securely in the lower pocket 15, and the ridge 25 keeps the dirt out of the pocket 15. The upper portion 21 of the insert is held securely against the upper lip 7 of the molding, with the projection 32 keeping the portion 21 from slipping inwardly past the lip 7.

To remove or replace a ticket, a pencil or other pointed tool is inserted in the recess 35 beneath the upper portion 21. Using the lower lip 9 of the molding as a fulcrum, the pencil is pivoted in the direction of arrow A (FIGURE 3), and the top of the insert 6 is bent outwardly from the upper lip 7. The ticket T can then be pulled out of the insert, and if desired, a new ticket can be put in its place.

Thus, it is apparent that the ticket holder 2 will accommodate varying sizes of tickets and that ticket T need not be held to a close dimensional tolerance in order for it to fit properly. The tickets can be inserted and replaced easily without bending or deforming them, and they are held firmly in the insert 6 regardless of their shape. In addition, the amount of dirt gathering in the lower pocket 15 of the molding is considerably reduced by the engagement of the ridge 25 with the lower lip 9.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A ticket holder comprising a molding, upper and lower lips on said molding extending outwardly and toward each other and forming upper and lower pockets, said upper lip having a depending edge surface facing toward said lower lip, a ticket supporting member having a base portion inserted in said lower pocket and an upper portion with a concave surface in engagement with said depending edge surface of said upper lip of the molding, and means on said ticket supporting member for holding. a ticket.

2. The ticket holder of claim 1 including a ridge on said base portion overlapping said lower lip of the molding so as to prevent dirt from falling into said lower pocket.

3. A ticket holder comprising a molding having a back wall, upper and lower lips extending outwardly from said back wall and toward each other and forming upper and lower pockets, said upper lip having a depending edge surface facing toward said lower lip, a ticket supporting member having a base portion inserted in said lower pocket and an upper portion with a concave surface engaging said depending edge surface of said upper lip of the molding, a protrusion on said upper portion extending toward said back wall of'the molding and preventing by its contact with said wall said concave surface from becoming disengaged from said upper lip and moving inwardly toward said back wall, and means on said ticket supporting mem-v molding, the middle portion of said ticket supporting mem-,

ber between said base portion and said top portion being transparent and having a convex outer surface facing away from said back wall of the molding and a concave inner surface facing toward said back wall of the molding, and means for holding a ticket with its outward surface convex and resting against said inner surface of the ticket supporting member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,320,463 6/ 1943 Pavlovic --l6 EUGENE R.CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

W. I. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TICKET HOLDER COMPRISING A MOLDING, UPPER AND LOWER LIPS ON SAID MOLDING EXTENDING OUTWARDLY AND TOWARD EACH OTHER AND FORMING UPPER AND LOWER POCKETS, SAID UPPER LIP HAVING A DEPENDING EDGE SURFACE FACING TOWARD SAID LOWER LIP, A TICKET SUPPORTING MEMBER HAVING A BASE PORTION INSERTED IN SAID LOWER POCKET AND AN UPPER PORTION WITH A CONCAVE SURFACE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID DEPENDING EDGE SURFACE OF SAID UPPER LIP OF THE MOLDING, AND MEANS ON SAID TICKET SUPPORTING MEMBER FOR HOLDING A TICKET. 